Need Recommendations for Snow Play Areas

We just got home from exactly that. We're not skiers at all and my 7 yr old had never seen snow so we took our boys (7, 4 and 9 mos) to Donner for an overnight. Soda Springs is great for the kids--check out their website. They have a whole kids area with a tube carousel in the snow, smaller hills to sled, practice snow boarding and skiing included in the price, and big open areas to play in the snow. We did that one day, spend the night at Donner Lake, had dinner in Truckee which is so cute and has skating, and then the next morning drove just 15 minutes to Sugar Bowl where the kids had a 2 hour lesson together. It was great and so easy. Feel free to email me if you have any questions about it.
Also, the place we stayed wasn't fancy, but was clean and super convenient and inexpensive--Donner Lake Village - http://www.donnerlakevillage.com/. We live in Marin and it took only 2 1/2 hours door to door.

Hi K.,

For family fun we enjoy Squaw Valley. There is a tubing run at the base of the hill that you can walk to, and it's SO MUCH FUN. They also have a rope tow for the kids to do some very skiing in the same location. They have an ice rink and POOL (yes, it's heated and people swim and hot tub during the winter) at the top of the hill. The kids will dig the tram ride up - wow, what a view! And at the bottom of the hill, in Squaw Village, they usually have a huge jumping thing (bungee type for bouncing and flipping, not for jumping!) set up. You can honestly spend the whole day there and never run out of things to do with the kids. Enjoy!

Hi,

My partner has a cabin he rents in the Sierras near Bear Valley and the Lake Alpine Snow Park Area. When we go there for a weekend with 3 kids (3,12 and 15 years old) the dog and some friends, we always have fun and some relaxing time. When the snow covers everything we snowshoe, sled and just play in the snow. Cross country skiing is also an available pleasure right out of the door.
The cabin is in Dorington, it has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and a large sleeping loft. You can check it out on the website: www.mtnhouse.org or contact directly Steven at ____@____.com you'll find what you're looking for!

S.

You can rent a house or condo in TahoeDonner--right in Truckee right off of 80-has a snow play area, year round swimming pool at the rec center, a great small mountain right in the community with a fantastic learn to ski program for kids-super inexpensive and so easy to manage-they also have cross country ski trails, snow shoeing-a lodge with a great restaurant-close to downtown truckee--there is an ice skating rink right in Truckee or you can head over to Northstar or the top of Squaw to skate for the day--visit www.tahoedonner.com it really is a great family place-enjoy!!!